The Kyrie Irving trade is officially complete; the blockbuster deal has finally gone through. Although Danny Ainge and the Celtics were the first team to blink as they gave up a 2020 second round pick, I think throwing in the sweetener was the right move. Kyrie Irving is not only a better player than Isaiah Thomas, he’s also only 25 years old. This was a deal that Danny had to get done, so I give him credit for giving up the second round pick and not trying to be stubborn (as most GMs would’ve).

​With another day closer to the return of Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia and CF Jackie Bradley Jr., manager John Farrell is another day closer to making some difficult decisions. Boston has been awfully inconsistent at the dish this season. They’ve grounded into the second most double-plays in all of baseball [121], have left the fifth most on base [940] and continue to run into outs between the pillows. Their base-running woes, which have been well documented this season, are very alarming, especially for a 1st place team.

The 2013-2014 season for the Celtics was a terrible season. The roster featured names like Jeff Green, Gerald Wallace, Keith Bogans, MarShon Brooks, Kris Humphries, Jordan Crawford, and more. I'd tell you to look up the roster for yourself, but I don't want you getting sick to your stomach while reading. They were in a terrible state.

​Preseason is just around the corner and many questions regarding the 2017-2018 squad have been left unanswered. I reached out to my followers via Twitter and Instagram seeking your questions that I hopefully have the answer to. So lets begin.

By: Andrew Tashian​​Losing sucks. It sucks. That’s why having a pitcher like Chris Sale on the staff is so important to the Red Sox. Sale pitches huge innings, overpowers hitters for outs, makes no excuses and, most noticeably, he wins. The Condor has been phenomenal, he’s been the MLB’s best pitcher, {yes, better than Kershaw, I like my pitchers to pitch}, and has absolutely been the MVP of this 2017 Red Sox baseball team from Boston, Massachusetts. Entering the game in a three way tie for Double U’s with KC Royals pitcher Jason Vargas and teammate Drew ‘Big Smooth’ Pomeranz, the likely AL Cy Young winner, aimed to take down the Blue Jays for his 15th win of the year. His last two outings have been unkind as he suffered consecutive losses for the first time in a Boston uniform.

​We are now just days away from the glorious month of September. The leaves will be changing, the NFL season will be beginning, and most importantly, the pressure will be rising among Major League Baseball teams who are hoping to make a playoff run. With the Red Sox up 3.5 games in the division, it seems very likely that they will find themselves in the playoff picture come October; however, this team was not constructed to simply make it to the playoffs.This team was constructed to contend for a World Series title, and they were constricted to do that right now. But when you take into consideration the injury problems, inconsistencies, and other issues that they have endured, it begs the question of whether or not they deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as teams like the Dodgers, Astros, and Indians. Does the Sox have what it takes to win in October?

The Red Sox were such a different team the first part of August. They won 16 of 20 from July 31st to August 23rd. Over that span they batted .277, hit 29 HR, saw 72 BB, slugged .465 and had a .817 OPS. Stretching their AL East lead over the Yankees to a 5.5 game lead everything seemed to be on the up and up. However, as I’ve said before, the 2017 Boston Red Sox are the single most inconsistent first place ball club in MLB History. They have lost 4 in a row, being outscored 38-10 and playing some of the worst defensive baseball ever seen by human eyes. The baserunning mistakes, the absolute lack of power, the comical managerial skills of John Farrell…they’ve somehow made it to late August in first place. Mostly behind the arms of Chris Sale and Drew Pomeranz, as well as, the overachieving bullpen, Boston is now facing the question that they’ve peaked too early. The same question that was presented to them last season after rattling off 11 straight victories in September, before being swept in the ALDS by the eventual AL Champion, Cleveland Indians. The fact of the matter is, the Red Sox need pitching to carry them because hitting with runners in scoring position, or with runners on base at all, doesn’t seem to be part of the gameplan.

Before you say it, I know, most conspiracy theories sound a bit crazy. Similar to most theories, this has to do with the NBA being a little suspicious with the way the league is run. Now before you call me crazy, no I don’t actually believe in this conspiracy theory but I’ve tried to at least convince myself it’s possible. Besides, these things are fun to read and actually think about.

​The Patriots took home their first victory of the preseason with a win over the Detroit Lions on Friday night, 30-28. While we may have come out with win on the scoreboard battle, we still suffered a big loss on the field.